<p>Do I have to answer this? I've seen it on a few common app supplements.</p>
<p>I don't see any advantages to those universities talking behind my back or anything like that...</p>
<p>I would answer it. It seems a little shady to hold out information…might raise some eyebrows. I would just be honest.</p>
<p>You don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s probably just for statistical purposes to see where the average applicant also applies.</p>
<p>Of course, since you’re here on College Confidential, [this</a> thread](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/553624-what-other-schools-you-applying.html]this”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/553624-what-other-schools-you-applying.html) contains actual “strategies” to filling out that portion of an application.</p>
<p>^ Awesome I’ll read that through, thank you. If necessary, I’ll probably just fill in a couple of schools or something to that effect.</p>
<p>Would you be penalized in any way for not filling it out or not filling it out completely 100% honestly? I know on the Rice supplement it asks for the other colleges you’re applying to…</p>
<p>Exactly which colleges have you seen asking about this? What is the exact wording of their questions? </p>
<p>Here’s the FAQ: </p>
<p>APPLICATIONS TO OTHER COLLEGES </p>
<p>You could quote chapter and verse from the Statement of Principles of Good Practice of the National Association for College Admission Counseling:</p>
<p>
</p></li>
</ol>
<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyres/9A4F9961-8991-455D-89B4-AE3B9AF2EFE8/0/SPGP.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyres/9A4F9961-8991-455D-89B4-AE3B9AF2EFE8/0/SPGP.pdf</a> </p>
<p>and once you have done that, you could say, based on whatever is the truth, “Not wanting this to be construed as a statement of my order of preference, I am applying to”</p>
<p>a) “other colleges that appear to offer some of the same features as your college”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>b) “a varied list of colleges to ensure that I carefully consider what is the best fit between me and each college”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>c) “small liberal arts colleges with a focus on undergraduate teaching” (or whatever summary characteristic applies to all colleges on your list)</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>d) “a list of colleges developed according to policies of my high school counseling office”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>e) “[actual list] but this list should not be taken to be in preference order”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>f) “a list of colleges that I would rather not mention here, so that we take extra care to follow NACAC principles of good practice.”</p>
<p>Your own creativity can probably come up with some more choices. I do NOT see this question on many of the college application forms I have downloaded from the Web this year.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyres/9A4F9961-8991-455D-89B4-AE3B9AF2EFE8/0/SPGP.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyres/9A4F9961-8991-455D-89B4-AE3B9AF2EFE8/0/SPGP.pdf</a> </p>
<p>One student mentioned that a college that he was applying to online allowed only fifty characters in its online form for listing other colleges that he was applying to. That would allow for lots of fun possibilities, such as</p>
<p>Q: To what other colleges are you applying? </p>
<p>A: [in online form:] I am applying to other colleges that share some of the great characteristics of your college, for example </p>
<p>To sum up, if you are applying early decision somewhere, OF COURSE that college is your first choice, and you plainly signal to that college that it is your first choice by applying for a binding early decision program. But if you are applying for nonbinding early action, for rolling admission, or for regular action admission, no college should care much where else you are applying, and you are certainly not obligated to tell the college where else you are applying, especially not in a rank-ordered list.</p>
<p>Make a list of schools they compete with.</p>
<p>Hahhaha, just kidding…sort of…</p>
<p>Alphabetically ordered list is not bad imo</p>
<p>^ that’s a good idea</p>
<p>I don’t think any of my colleges’ supplements ask this question, however not all of their supplements have been released yet…</p>